The Spirit Of Ipswich
by MarinePixie
Summary: Elodie 'Lola' Goodwin Pope was not what she seemed. Yes, she was a Daughter of Ipswich but there was more to her than what meets the eye. Lola was different than the others in the covenant that the founding families of Ipswich had formed. Her soul had been kissed by a gift that threatened to tear her very mind apart and bring about a danger that threatened everyone she loved.
1. Chapter 1

_They say when Ipswich was founded there was five families with great power and bound together by a dark secret. But that was lie; in truth there was six families until one family was banished from Ipswich for abusing the gift. Now there are five families and they have stuck together and kept their gifts a secret, which has kept them safe for the last three hundred years. Well… In a manner of speaking._

* * *

Local legend had it that the old Ipswich colony houses were haunted by malevolent spirits but Lola knew that wasn't true. For the most part. The old colony houses weren't haunted by spirits of any kind but rather secrets within the walls. The secrets that had kept the founding families of Ipswich safe.

She had been here more times than she could count, perhaps even a million times yet, no matter how many times Lola had come to the old Danvers colony house, she had never got used to the eerie feeling that the old Danvers' colony house gave off. The run down house gave off a menacing aura that always caused the hairs on Lola's neck to stand up on edge. The wind was howling like it was the end of days. The morning sun seemed cold and distant for something was supposed to represent warmth and light. Lola couldn't help but shudder ever so slightly as she pulled her coat tighter around herself, summer was finally coming to an end and already the chill of the upcoming fall season was hanging over Ipswich. She didn't want to be here today of all days but Lola had no choice in the matter, the Danvers colony house had the relevant information that Lola needed and it also offered some much needed privacy. The colony house was off the beaten track, hidden away from prying eyes deep located within the woods. It was isolated and completely run down, a far cry from the current ancestral home of the Danvers family. Everyone in Ipswich thought that the old Danvers house was abandoned, an old relic of the witch trials that somehow remained standing and according to local legend, the house was haunted with the souls of those killed in the witch trials. That wasn't the case as Lola well knew.

Back in the 17th century when the witch trials were spreading through Ipswich, the six founding families of Ipswich came together and formed a covenant to protect them all from the witch finders. To protect themselves, their families and their gifts so they could escape the persecution that was happening all around them. The covenant of silence that was formed over three hundred years ago had kept the families safe. No real witch from Ipswich was killed during the Witch Trials. They were all safe. Only five of the remaining founding families of Ipswich were alive and well, Lola was a direct descendent of one of the remaining five families; the Pope's. The other families were the Danvers, Simms, Garwin and Parry. The covenant of silence had protected them and they would continue to protect each other.

Taking a deep breath, Lola gently pushed open the door and made her way into the colony house which looked just as she left it last night. It was dark as ever despite the windows offering light into such a gloomy place, the smell damp still hung in the air but Lola was so used to the smell that it no longer bothered her. Wordlessly making her way through the house, Lola eventually made her way up the back set of stairs and took the familiar journey up to the top floor of the old colony house.

The room was cluttered with an enormous amount of books, most of them still where Lola left them due to her being too lazy to put them back. Besides the books, there was a marginal amount of furniture, a few chairs, a table and a small bed in the corner of the room where an elderly gentleman slept. Well… Lola said elderly but in reality William Danvers was technically only 44 years of age but years of abusing the magic they had, the great power their families held had taken a huge toll on his body. He looked double his age. William Danvers was a cautionary tale to all of them about the dangers that came with using magic. He was kept here in this house to make sure no one ever learnt the truth about what had really happened to him. His only real companion? Gorman, the caretaker of the estate who was employed by the Danvers family.

"How's he doing today Gorman?" Lola questioned, sliding off her coat as she looked over to William who continued to sleep. As far as Lola could tell, it was only when William slept did he manage to escape the hells of the reality that he was living in. To see him this way was tragic as Lola was aware that her father and William had been very close friends until his addiction to magic had driven a wedge between his friends and his family.

"He's doing well as can be expected Miss Elodie." Gorman grunted in response as he idly shuffled around the room and Lola couldn't help but smile. To most, it would seem like Gorman was a cankerous old man who had lost his marbles, but to Lola? He was a dear friends and perhaps her most trusted confidant. It was why Lola never protested about him calling her by her actual first name. Lola had been born Elodie Goodwin Pope but she had been going by Lola for as long as she could remember.

Gorman was the one person who only ever referred to her as Elodie. If Gorman was anyone else, Lola would have had a problem with that but this was Gorman. He knew all their secrets, he knew the truth about the covenant and even though he wasn't from the founding families, Gorman had been keeping their secret for decades. He spent his days protecting William Danvers, protecting this house which hid all the secrets of the covenant.

"That's good to hear, what about you Gorman? How are you? I feel like we spend most our time discussing William or myself. I never get you hear about you." Lola prompted as she eased herself into the rather aged armchair in the corner of the room that she was rather fond of. The pile of books that she had yet to finish reading where sitting on a small table beside the armchair where she had left them.

"As always I am fine but we're not here because of me dear child, you are here to figure out the truth about yourself and what you are capable of."

Lola couldn't help but grimace. Gorman was right, Lola had come over to the Danvers old colony house today to find out any information she could about herself and more precisely her so-called gift. It's why she had been coming over to the colony house on and off for the last few months, especially in the last two weeks ever since she had returned to Ipswich following her family holiday. Ever since she had a weird dream involving her recently deceased Uncle Nick, Lola had been trying to find out about a supposed secret that bound the two of them together. For the last five months she had been having a strange and reoccurring dream. It had all started the night that her Uncle Nick had died. That's what brought Lola to the Danvers colony house today, it's why she had been coming everyday for the last two weeks ever since she weeks ever since she had returned to Ipswich.

For the last five months she had been having a strange and reoccurring dream. It had all started the night that her Uncle Nick had died.

At first Lola thought that she was dreaming but then it became clear that something wasn't quite right. It had been years since Lola had see Nick, her uncle had left Ipswich almost twenty years ago and only made sporadic visits every so often. Uncle Nick looked older than Lola had remembered, at least ten years older than he really was. The dark hair that she knew her uncle to have was almost complete white and his grey eyes looked so weary and tired. He looked like he could have been her father's older brother. It didn't take Lola long to realise what was wrong with her uncle, he had been abusing the gift that they had all been born with, the great power that bound the covenant together.

Their magic came with a deep price, it was addictive as hell almost as if it were a drug and on the day that they turned 18 and ascended, their power became 10 times more potent and for the male warlocks their powers became linked with their lives. Every time they used their gifts, it would begin to age them and the more they used, the greater the toll their bodies took.

As far as Lola knew, she would be spared from that given that she was a female witch.

But Lola had seen what abusing their gift took on the males and something was off. Uncle Nick was acting weird, he had always been a little weird and unpredictable but this was something else entirely. He was skittish, restless and seemed rather paranoid. He told Lola something was coming from them. Someone was coming for the both of them, because they were different. They held the fifth element. Spirit. Lola didn't know what on earth that meant and when she had woken up, she had been given the news that Uncle Nick was dead. He had committed suicide.

"I'm still trying to figure out this whole spirit thing Gorman, the books don't say much. From what William has told me, a witch or a warlock displaying spirit magic is very rare. Uncle Nick was supposed to be the first person in over a century to do so. In all the centuries of the covenant only three warlocks have ever been recorded as being spirit users in the Book of Damnation. There is no information about the ability of as it so rare." Lola allowed herself to admit, all she really knew was that most witches or warlocks in the covenant upon receiving their powers at the age of thirteen ended up specialising in one of the four main elements. There was the Garwin family who had displayed an affinity for using air, the Parry family were commonly associated with fire, The Simms' tended to have a gift for magic involving earth and the Danvers usually held the fourth element; water. Then there was Lola's family. They had never displayed a singular speciality, it always varied. Some specialised in magic involving water, other earth and some never declared an element; like Lola or so she thought. According to her Uncle Nick. She held the fifth element. The fifth point of the pentagram for the fifth family in the covenant.

"Perhaps you should go to your father about this Miss Elodie, he could be of help."

"I can't go to him about this. The only person who could have been of any real help was Uncle Nick but he's dead now. I don't understand why Uncle Nick never mentioned any of this to me before. He said that just like him I was spirit kissed. I represented the fifth element, I complete the covenant." Lola wearily replied as she leaned over the side of the armchair and picked up the book she had been previously reading on her last visit to the Danvers colony house, it was right where she had left it, sitting on a small pile of other books.

The book offered some information about spirit magic, however it wasn't much given how rare it was for someone to possess spirit magic. There was rather small entry that read 'Spirit users need to pull their magic from their own essence.' Lola wasn't sure what that meant as upon ascension, their powers always took energy from their own life force. Did that mean spirit magic did the same thing? If Lola was a spirit user, did that mean if she attempted to do any magic that it would take a toll on her physical body? There were so many questions that Lola had but there was no one that she could really turn to in her time of need. Her father was still dealing with the death of Nick and if Lola went to him asking about spirit magic, she would have to answer questions that she would be unable to answer. William wouldn't be much help given his current as even though he was still technically alive, he was getting weaker with every passing day.

"What about your Uncle Nick's journals? Have you found any thing in them yet? "

Lola shook her head, in the months that had passed since her uncle's death she had gone through all of his belongings in an attempt to find anything that would help her decipher his warning to her. There was several journals that Lola had come across, black leather bound journals that looked like they had seen better days. "There's nothing in them, at least nothing that I can make sense of Gorman. It's mostly symbols and what reads to be the ramblings of a mad man. I can't decipher any of this and the more I try, the less it makes any sense. Something was definitely wrong with Uncle Nick but whether or not it was due to magic is something else, I really don't know. Maybe Uncle Nick was wrong Gorman, perhaps I'm not supposed to declare an element or perhaps I'm meant to declare one of the other elements. My dad declared water even though Grandpa Hagen never declared an element. Sometimes it skips generations. Countless Pope's have not shown an affinity for an element and not declared. I still have time, there's just under a year before I turn 18."

"But you don't think he was wrong otherwise you wouldn't be here dear child." Gorman countered argued, a stern expression on his face and all Lola could do was sign.

"What do I do Gorman? All I do is read countless books and I'm no further to finding out what Uncle Nick meant than I was two months ago."

"Then you must go to the others Miss Elodie, the five of you have always been at your strongest when you are together. Each of you are the eldest child born into the five families and if what your Uncle Nicholas says it's true, if you are a spirit user then you will bring the covenant full circle once again. The five families representing each element like it was, back when the covenant was first formed." Gorman advised and all Lola could do was shake her head in disagreement, going to the others was perhaps the one option that she refused to even consider. Despite the dire situation she found herself in.

"They can't deal with the truth Gorman. I know those boys better than I know myself and they wouldn't be able to handle this. For them, it's hard enough trying to balance being a high school student and being a warlock. The boys aren't like me, all the lectures about the toll that our magic takes on us didn't sink in the first hundred times they heard it, hence why it's my job to keep them in line. I'm the responsible one out of the five of us. It's my job to protect them and make sure they don't get themselves into trouble that I can't get them out of. None of them are mature enough to deal with any of this, you just have to look at them and see that. They are all aware that what happened to William could happen to them but they choose to ignore it, as they are all convinced that they are untouchable until the day the ascended. With Caleb ascension this week, I need the boys focused on that. There's no point in telling them unless I know more, as of right now I'm going of a a reoccurring dream I have."

"They would want to help especially Master Pogue, this does concern him as well."

Pogue.

Of course. Gorman was right in a way as this did concern Pogue as Nick had not only been her uncle but his as well. The two of them were paternal cousins. Pogue may be a Parry but by blood he was also a Pope. Lola knew that Garwin had a point, but Pogue had already declared a speciality and like most of the Parry's before him, it had been fire. She saw no need to involve him yet. There was no need to involve any one yet as Lola didn't know what she was dealing with. This could be nothing, at least she hoped it was nothing.

None of this has been an issue five months ago, Lola had been as normal as a soon to 17 year old witch could be. But then Nick's suicide had changed everything and now Lola wasn't sure what anything meant any more. This reoccurring dream was where it all began. Typically Lola wouldn't gave gotten worked up about some weird dream but straight from the start she knew something off. But then to wake up and find out that her Uncle Nick had died, confirmed to Lola that it had been no ordinary dream and the fact that months later she was still having that said dream over and over. Something wasn't right here and Lola need to figure it all out.

"He will be the first person I tell when it's the right time, once I find out more about what being spirit kissed means and get Caleb through his ascension. I promise Gorman." Lola assured the elder gentleman as he went about checking on William.

"There is no need to promise me anything Miss Elodie, you have always done what is right by the covenant and I know you will figure this out."

Even though there was no one around Lola who could understand what she was going though, she felt relieved that she could always come and talk to Gorman even if he could never really comprehend what she was struggling with. Yet his words always managed to soothe her worries and if Gorman was convinced that Lola would figure this all out and continue to protect the covenant, then there was no way she could fail. Gorman had seen the covenant go through some pretty dark days, so his belief in her gave Lola some hope.

But until she figured everything out, it was time to get back to the books.


	2. Chapter 2

__The drop. 2Nite. 10.__

Lola glanced down at her cell phone screen and furrowed her brows together as she reread the text message that Pogue had sent her earlier. He had clearly told Lola to meet him at 10, yet it was now 10:15 and her elusive cousin was no way to be found, leaving Lola standing all alone in the middle of the dells looking like a complete and utter idiot. Lola would be pissed off with this, if it wasn't for the fact that she had come to expect this kind of tardiness from Pogue and their friends as timekeeping wasn't one of their strong suits. According to Reid, there was no such thing as being late. However there was such a thing as fashionable late and that was the only way to show up to any party, and if there was anything that Red Garwin knew how to do well; it was partying.

It was what brought Lola to the dells at this time of night when she was wide awake.

The moon hung high in the sky and yet despite the all fog, Lola seemed to see it as clear as day and it was hauntingly beautiful as it was lonely. __Just like in her dreams.__ Seeing herself wondering off into the deep recess of her mind, Lola forced herself back to reality with a fierce shake of her head as she couldn't allow this to happen. Ever since the night that her Uncle Nick had died, this dream was taking over both Lola's every waking moment and it was draining. She couldn't allow this to keep happening! Sure, Nick's warning was rather alarming and Lola knew she needed to figure it as why else would she have the same reoccurring dream for months on end? But at the same time Lola was a seventeen year old girl and she just wanted to have some fun.

Summer vacation was coming to an end soon and then Lola would be thrown head first into her senior year. Then the boys would all be ascending in the next year and all of that was complicated enough without adding some kind of supernatural mystery that related to some powers that Lola may or may not have. Life was not easy for a seventeen year old witch and for one night, Lola just wanted to forget it all as her problems would still be here tomorrow.

Yet, there was this funny feeling in Lola's bones and it was something that she couldn't quite shake off no matter how hard she tried. Maybe she was just being paranoid because of the whole Nick thing, or perhaps it was because Caleb's ascension was round the corner. But Lola had this feeling that something was coming.

"Well, well, well… Look who finally decided to drag their ass out from behind closed doors and rejoin society!"

Hearing voices coming from behind her, Lola turned her attention away from the evening sky and away from the cliff's edge to see her friends. Or rather the majority of them as one of them seemed to be missing. There in front of Lola was Tyler, Caleb and of course Pogue. It seemed like Reid was nowhere to be found for the moment. A warm smile couldn't help but grace Lola's face as she looked to the boys, given everything that had happened over the last few months, she hadn't really been able to spend any real quality time with them. Lola had spent the majority of her summer vacation helping her family deal with Nick's personal affairs or with her head crammed into some obscure book. But summer was now over, and for Lola it was time to start moving forward and there was no better way to do that than with her friends by her side.

"About time you assholes showed up." Lola began with a small roll of her eyes, as she wanted the three young men continue to walk towards her like they had no care in the world. The swagger in their step reeked of the over confident egos that came with the wealth they each of them had been born into to and the privilege than came with it. The whole Children of Ipswich thing didn't exactly help either.

It was kind of hard to keep a normal size ego when pretty much an entire town bestowed a title upon your family for simply founding the town. But that was the case here. All the males born into the founding families were known as the Sons of Ipswich where as the females were the Daughters of Ipswich and collectively they were the Children of Ipswich. A name given to the direct descendants of the originals settlers.

"Sorry we're late Lol!" Caleb began and Lola casually shrugged her shoulders as she closed the distance between them in order to hug him. A task that seemed a lot more difficult than it previously once was as to Lola it seemed she had to strain herself even further to reach up in order to hug him. Either Lola had shrunk lately or Caleb was having another growth spurt.

But regardless of any more growth spurts, Caleb would always remain the same on the inside where it mattered. Sure he had the whole tall, dark and handsome thing going for him, with the light from the moon putting extra emphasis on that tonight. But Caleb was the good one. The moral and guiding light of them all. A kind boy with a gentle heart who had been forced to grow up far too soon. Even now, Caleb was burdened with more responsibility than Lola could even begin to imagine.

"You are forgiven, always." Lola replied with a quiet whisper as she pulled away from Caleb.

It seemed like all of Lola's worries were slipping away just by being back in the mere presence of her friends, or rather her head had finally managed to tune them out to give her a moments peace for the first team in months. Whatever it was, Lola wasn't going to take it for granted.

Or at least it was, until her eyes made contact with Pogue and he seemed to be trying to burn a hole into her forehead given the way that he was looking at her. His green eyes, similar in some many ways to Lola's own were as formidable as ever, gazing at her so intently that it would have been safe to assume that he was very much pissed off. Although Lola knew better, as her cousin had one of those faces that naturally looked like he was pissed off. However, it did at times make it hard to decipher when Pogue was actually pissed off.

"You look like shit Lollie."

" _ _Really?__ Hello to you too cuz." Lola quipped in response, finding it somewhat amusing that her cousin was taking cheap shots at her appearance when he was in desperate need of a haircut, as his brown hair was now sitting past his chin. That favoured leather jacket of his had taken a beaten and his jeans were a mess. If anything Pogue was the one who looked like he had just rolled out of bed.

But Lola knew never to take any of the insults that Pogue tossed her way personally as it was kind of hers and Pogue's thing. The two of them would volley insults back and forth like it was nobodies business but neither of them took it to heart.

Even now as they were bickering with each other, Lola could see her cousin's features softened and the faux scowl that his been plastered on his face moments ago had been replaced with a small but friendly enough smile. At least friendly by Pogue's standards. But there was more to it as Lola could see Pogue looking her over, the green eyes that they shared were looking intently at her like they could see something that no one else could. Even in this darkness.

In a way Lola supposed that they could as Pogue was more than her cousin who loved nothing more than to bust her balls and tease her. If anything, Pogue was perhaps her most truest friend. There was nothing that the two of them didn't share with each other, minus one or two things on Lola's end. It was why Pogue called her Lollie. To most people Lola was simply Lola. To the boys Lola was Lol or Lo. But anything else? That was off limits to any one who wasn't Pogue. He was the only one who could give her nickname of Lola any further nicknames of it's own. __Lollie, check. Lollipop, check. Lolita, check.__ But that last one was only when he really wanted to be a pain in Lola's ass. The nickname thing was pretty much a testament to how close the two cousins were.

"Always! You know me…" Pogue replied with a grin as he wrapped an arm Lola's shoulders, pulling her in close, enough that no one would hear what he was about to say next. "I mean it though Lol, you look like shit. You okay? Still having trouble sleeping?"

"We'll talk about it later, let's just focus on having fun tonight." Lola whispered back with a forced laugh on her part. She didn't want to worry him, at least not any more than she usually did.

"Hey Lola!"

Then lastly there was Tyler. Or rather baby boy as he was affectionately known as given that he was the youngest out of the five of them which he was never allowed to live down. The gorgeous baby blue eyes contributed to that as well. The quiet one of the group. At least when you compared him to the others but Lola didn't mind that, in fact she kind of found it rather endearing that Tyler managed to stay so reserved despite being constantly surrounded by loud mouths such as herself and Reid. As she knew that there was more to Tyler than what met the eyes as he was a lot more perceptive than what he made himself out to be. A whole lot smarter than what people thought he was. Plus he won major points for being more than willing to sit with Lola and discuss Isaac Asimov for hours on end.

God, Lola was so happy to Tyler.

But this was in a way that wasn't exactly platonic.

"Hey you…" Lola replied in a bright manner offering a small smile from where she stood with Pogue, who still seemed to have his arm hanging over her neck, with no intention to move it any time soon. But now that all the pleasantries were out of the way, it was time to get down to business. "Where's the imp? It's unlike you and Reid to come to these things separately."

"Who knows?" Tyler admitted with a nonchalant;ant shrug of his shoulders and Lola couldn't help but raise a brow in surprise as normally you wouldn't find one without the other. Tyler and Reid were pretty much attached at the hip for all intensive purposes.

"He'll show. You know Reid never misses out on a party." Pogue confidently stated and Lola couldn't help but murmur in agreement. That was for sure. Reid not turning up to the party was like asking the sun not to rise. It was never going to happen.

"We weren't sure that you were going to make it Lol."

"I know I've not really been around this summer but there was no way I'd let you guys start senior year without me. It's us against the world, remember?" Lola replied with a exasperated laugh. As much as Lola hated the tag of 'The Children of Ipswich' that had been following the five of around since before they could even walk, she had to admit it did serve a purpose. To unify them. To bind them together.

Yet it was more than that. It wasn't like the five of them were like family. They were family. Technically speaking only Lola and Pogue were the only ones who were biologically related by blood. But as Lola knew there was more to family than just blood. Sometimes water could be thicker than blood. Reid, Tyler and Caleb may not have been related to Lola through blood, marriage and paperwork but they were as much as family to her as was Pogue. And it wasn't the covenant that had bound them together. Sure, it was the reason that brought their families together thus ensure their survival but what had kept them together was genuine affection for each other. The five of them had been friends since the day they were born.

"Yeah, yeah… We know!" Pogue stated with a small roll of his eyes and Lola laughed as she slipped out from under Pogue's arm and made her way over to the cliff's edge.

From where she stood, Lola could see that the party was in full swing. The music was loud enough for Lola to hear it from where she stood at the cliffs edge. Her classmates were too far away from Lola to make them out individually but the bonfires made it a lot easier to make out to spot the hoards of her classmates out on the beach. From the looks of it, a good crowd had made it's way out. Most likely the bulk of the incoming senior class and the junior class. Already, just from what Lola could see, she knew that it was going to be a good night. One that they would never forget.

It was a bit scary to think that the end was in sight, as Lola could still remember the start of their freshman year. The five of them were all starting off at Spenser together, back then they were all boarding at the school and life had gotten complicated very quickly. Sure, they still had their powers but back then they were all still goofy kids who thought they knew better than every one else. The crushing weight of puberty hadn't completely kicked in yet but for the first time ever, they were left to their own devices. There were no parents to remind them consonantly of the importance of not exposing their powers. The weight of Ipswich history was hanging over their heads constantly and that knowledge that they could not allow history to repeat itself.

Somehow they had survived. There had been a few close calls and numerous detentions but the five of them had made it through the worst of it together. Although there was still more to come as they were in the home stretch but first they had to survive senior year and that had it's own challenges. This was a big year for them. It was the year of ascension. With their 18th birthdays approaching, their powers would finally reach it's peak and be fully matured. It was a big deal in the covenant as their abilities became more potent and even more addictive than before. The process itself had been brutal, as Lola could remember from her own ascension back when she turned 16. For some reason the women in the covenant ascended at the age of 16, most put it down to the fact that women mature faster than their male counterpart.

All the boys would be ascending in the next 12 months starting with Caleb, but it was also a big year for Lola as well as she needed to declare an element or no element by the time of her 18th birthday which was at the start of summer. It was a big year without the stress of whether or not they would get in their respective choices of colleges.

Life had a scary way of sneaking pass you when you weren't looking. It just made Lola all the more determined to enjoy herself this year as she wanted her senior year to count for something, in ten years from now she wanted to look back on this time and have no regrets about anything.

"Elodie, you okay?"

Lola hadn't realised that she floated off onto some other planet within the depths of her own mind, not until she heard her first name followed by a hand on the small of her back. There was this warmth to this touch that managed to draw Lola back to reality Much to her surprise Lola saw that it was Tyler beside her, looking at her with such a worried look on his young face. She really must have drifted off into some dark space within her mind for him to look so bothered.

 _ _Christ!__

Lola needed to do some damage control otherwise she would spend the rest of the night being asked that question on a repetitive loop. First Pogue and now Tyler? God forbid Lola would never hear the end of it if Caleb and especially Reid got started with the welfare check. She needed to nip this in the bud now.

"I will be once you stop calling me that! You know the rules Ty, it's always Lola never Elodie!" Lola quipped with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, my bad… It just seemed like you were a million miles away and I've always seemed to be able to get your attention by using your first name so I figured I'd give a try. So are you? Okay, I mean." Tyler questioned, his brows furrowing together and intermediately Lola felt a twinge of guilt as she never meant to worry him in the slightest. She didn't want to worry any of them at all. It was one thing with Pogue as he took it upon himself as his own personal responsibility to look for Lola as they were family. There was nothing much Lola could do about that. But Tyler? Lola didn't want that.

Reaching forward, Lola lifted her right hand up and placed it gently on the side of Tyler's face and using her thumb, she gently stroked his cheek with her thumb.

"I am now."

"What's up fellas? And Lol!"

 _ _Shit! What the hell was she doing?__

The sound of Reid's voice caused Lola to jump out of her skin and she quickly manoeuvred herself away from Tyler. She was so lost in whatever the hell she was doing with Tyler that Lola hadn't even seen or heard their beloved blonde hair imp with a larger than life personality show up. God what was wrong with her? Lola didn't do stuff like this and she could feel a burning hot flush spread over her face as she had no idea as to what had come over her to do something like that. Shuffling closer to Caleb, Lola took special effort to avoid making eye contact with any one because she really did not want to answer questions about why her face was this humiliating colour. Although it was a lot easier said than done as from the corner of her eye, Lola could see Pogue looking at her with the most arrogant looking smirk on his face.

Christ. Lola could already tell that he would bring this whole thing up again at some point just to embarrass her.

"Where were you? I stopped by to give you a life." Tyler asked the beyond fashionably late Reid and Lola kept her eyes on the party that was going on below them.

"Had things to do. How's the party?"

"Don't know. Just got here." Pogue replied,

"Well, hell boys… let's drop in!"

Before the warning could even roll off her tongue, Reid stepped off the cliff and Lola could only roll her eyes in exasperation as his figure disappeared into the fog.

Yet, Lola could still feel his presence due to the connection the five of them had due to their powers. It was like a psychic bond in some sense, each of them were of the same generation and the heirs to their family seat within the covenant and as such they could feel when one of them was using their abilities. It was like this warm tingly sensation in the back of your head, depending on how much you were using at the time. This connection was harmless and yet dangerous all the same as it was very alluring, like an old friend calling out for you to embrace them. It was hard to say no and made it a lot harder to resist using your own powers.

"Oh, shit, yeah!" Tyler added, following Reid's lead and taking a dive off the cliff albeit turning around and allowing himself to aimless fall.

Once again Lola could feel the sensation of someone using the power running through her head, as someone who had already ascended it was 10 times worse than before she had ascended. It was like adrenaline rush and yet Lola had done nothing to cause it but her body was being flooded with all this overwhelming energy that made her feel alive in ways that mundane living never did.

"Tyler!" Caleb yelled out from over the cliffs but it was pointless really as there was no way Tyler was ever going to hear that, he was probably already at the bottom of the cliff with Reid waiting on the rest of them.

"Come on, Caleb. It's not like it's gonna kill us... yet." Pogue drawled, offering Lola and Caleb a small smirk before following the others straight off the edge of the cliffs and into the unknown. The heavy sensation running through Lola's head was making it hard for her to concentrate and so she had to move her head from side to side a couple of times to refocus.

That just left Lola and Caleb now. They could do the responsible thing here and refuse to take part in the whole cliff jumping stunt that the others had already taken part in. But Lola had always known how this was going to end seeing as they were still up here and the party was all the way down at the bottom of the beach. She didn't really like where this whole thing was leading to but Lola had to admit that it beat taking the long way down to the beach. Lola didn't tend to use her magic much for obvious reasons but occasionally she indulged in some run of the mill harmless magic.

"Better get this over with… Ready to go?" Lola questioned, holding her out to Caleb who just looked at her like she had grown another head. "Oh, come on Caleb! You can't really tell me that you had no idea where this was going to led when we all agreed to meet here. We don't come to the cliffs to just take a look at the pretty view and them walk down to the bottom."

"You can't be serious! We shouldn't be doing this Lola! This is the time where we all need to start showing some serious restraint as things are only getting get more harder from this point onwards." Caleb began in an irritated manner and Lola knew that Caleb had every right to be lecturing them all about the dangers of using their powers, his father after all was a cautionary tale to them all. William Danvers was a living example of the dangers that came with their powers. There was a price with magic. A highly addictive one that was as potent as any drug.

"You know that I don't like to use magic Caleb… But how many more times are we going to be able to do this Caleb? This is our last ever back to school party at the Dells. Next summer we'll all be going off on our separate ways. You'll hopefully be heading off to Harvard and if everything goes well then I'll be at Northwestern."

"It's addictive Lol, that's reason enough for us not to use."

"You think I don't know that Caleb? I know how addictive using our powers are… Just feeling you guys use yours makes me want to use mine. It's like an itch that I cant quite reach and it's not like the itch ever goes away. I've been dealing with this for over a year now and soon enough you'll know for yourself what I'm talking about." Lola admitted with a small shake of her head.

"So why use tonight?" Caleb asked with an exasperate sigh.

"We can't keep preaching to them like our father's did to us Caleb, the more we tell them not to use, the more they will want to do it. They are months away from ascension so Pogue, Reid and Tyler's bodies aren't becoming attuned to the changes so they aren't as sensitive to the toll our powers take on their bodies. But they will be in time. Until then we have to go about this in a different way… We give an inch and we don't allow any one to take a mile. Once you ascend Caleb, things will change." Lola stated in a confident voice, although she sounded a lot more sure of herself than she actually was.

"I don't like this Lola."

"Neither do I."


End file.
